Irish Close Out Non-Conference Slate At #4 Tennessee

Dec. 29, 2006

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2006-07 ND Women’s Basketball: Game 13
Notre Dame Fighting Irish (9-3 / 0-0 BIG EAST) vs.
#4/4 Tennessee Lady Volunteers (11-1 / 0-0 SEC)

• DATE:
• December 30, 2006
• TIME: 2:00 p.m. ET
• AT: Knoxville, Tenn. – Thompson-Boling Arena (24,535)
• SERIES: UT leads 17-0
• 1ST MTG: 11/25/83 (UT 71-56)
• LAST MTG: 12/31/05 (UT 62-51)
• RADIO: ESPN Radio 1490 AM – Sean Stires, p-b-p
• TV: Comcast/Charter Sports SE – Bob Kesling, p-b-p/Joe Ciampi, color
• LIVE STATS: www.und.com
• TICKETS: (865) 656-4667

Storylines

• Notre Dame is looking for its first-ever road win over a top-five opponent and its first overall since 2003-04.
• The Irish have registered nine non-conference wins for the third consecutive season.

Irish Close Out Non-Conference Slate At No. 4 Tennessee
Notre Dame will close out both the 2006 calendar year and the non-conference portion of its schedule on Saturday when it takes on No. 4 Tennessee at 2 p.m. (ET) from Thompson-Boling Arena in Knoxville. It’s the second of three games in a six-day span for the Irish, as well as the second of four road games in the next six for Notre Dame.

The Irish returned from the Christmas break in a big way on Thursday, leading right from the opening tip in a 94-55 rout of Prairie View A&M at the Joyce Center. Notre Dame used a 26-5 early in the first half to push its lead well past 20 points, with the final margin being its largest in nearly four years. For the most part, the Irish looked sharp at both ends with a .516 field goal percentage while forcing 28 PVAMU turnovers (including a season-high 18 steals).

Freshman guard Ashley Barlow led five Notre Dame players in double figures, tossing in a career-high 21 points to go along with a game-best nine rebounds. Junior center Melissa D’Amico turned in another efficient outing, adding 17 points in 18 minutes of court time.

Rankings

• Notre Dame received one vote in this week’s Associated Press poll.
• Tennessee is fourth in the Associated Press and ESPN/USA Today polls this week.

Web Sites

• Notre Dame: http://www.und.com
• Tennessee: http://www.utladyvols.com
• BIG EAST: http://www.bigeast.org
• SEC: http://www.secsports.com

Setting The Standard Under the guidance of 20th-year head coach Muffet McGraw, Notre Dame has evolved into one of the country’s leading women’s basketball powers. The Irish have appeared in 13 NCAA Tournaments (including a current streak of 11 in a row) and advanced to the NCAA Sweet 16 six times in the previous 10 years. Notre Dame also has reached the NCAA Women’s Final Four twice, winning college basketball’s ultimate prize with the 2001 national championship.

In its history, Notre Dame has developed eight All-Americans, nine WNBA players (including six draft picks in the past six years) and four USA Basketball veterans (eight medals won). Now in their 30th season in 2006-07, the Irish own an all-time record of 602-269 (.691).

Notre Dame Head Coach Muffet McGraw
Saint Joseph’s ’77

• 20th season at Notre Dame
• 438-170 (.720) at Notre Dame.
• 526-211 (.714) in 25 years as head coach. NOTES
• 2001 consensus National Coach of the Year
• Four-time Naismith Coach of the Year finalist
• Four-time conference Coach of the Year
• BIG EAST Conference (2001)
• Midwestern Collegiate Conference (1991)
• North Star Conference (1988)
• East Coast Conference (@ Lehigh) (1983)

A Quick Look At The Fighting Irish
Less than two months into the 2006-07 season, the growth of the Notre Dame women’s basketball team already is evident, and the best may be yet to come.

With a young and inexperienced roster that has only two seniors and is missing its top returning scorer from a year ago, the Irish have had to learn on the run — and run is exactly what they have done this season. Notre Dame is averaging 71.8 points per game thus far, a significant improvement over the previous five Irish squads, none of which has averaged better than 66.3 points per night.

Of course, the Irish have traditionally hung their hat on their defense, a trait that is much harder to master and takes a bit longer. On the one hand, Notre Dame’s aggressive style has rattled opponents, causing 22.5 turnovers per game (including a BIG EAST-best 12.6 steals per night). However, the flip side has seen the Irish allow opponents to shoot .412 from the floor (.376 from the three-point line), while the Irish claim just a 1.6 rpg. edge on the boards), two areas Notre Dame will continue to focus on as it closes out its non-conference schedule.

Junior guard Charel Allen has been one of the main offensive catalysts for the Irish to this point, averaging a team-high 14.1 ppg., while scoring in double figures in 10 of 12 outings to date. The Monessen, Pa., native, who was limited last year while recovering from knee surgery in the summer of 2005, also is collecting 5.7 rebounds per game (second on the team) and was named to the BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll on Dec. 4 after averaging 18.0 ppg. and 6.0 rpg. against Richmond, Michigan and Indiana.

Allen’s classmate and backcourt running partner, Tulyah Gaines, is an early candidate as one of the conference’s most improved players. The speedy Gaines has assumed the large footprint left at the point by All-American (and WNBA Draft pick) Megan Duffy and has stoked the Notre Dame offensive fire to an even hotter level, averaging 10.7 points and 3.3 assists per game with a .524 field goal percentage. Gaines, who came into the season with a 3.7 ppg. career scoring average, has twice score 20 points in a game this year, including a career-high 25 points in a Nov. 13 overtime win vs. Bowling Green.

Another Irish junior, 6-foot-5 center Melissa D’Amico, continues to make strides in the post. The second-year starter is averaging 11.2 points and 5.2 rebounds per game with a .571 field goal percentage, and has looked even better of late, averaging 14.4 points and 6.8 rebounds with a .615 field goal percentage in the past five games. She also earned a spot on the BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll on Dec. 18.

The most pleasing contributions of the year for Notre Dame to this point have come from its freshmen, three of whom have seen significant playing time. Guard Ashley Barlow is second on the team in scoring (11.3 ppg.) and tops in steals (2.4 spg.), and came up with a career-high 21-points and nine rebounds Thursday vs. Prairie View A&M. Center Erica Williamson (6.5 ppg., 5.2 rpg., 1.5 bpg.) is proving to be a capable understudy to D’Amico, amassing a season-high 15 points vs. Prairie View A&M. And, guard Melissa Lechlitner (4.5 ppg., 2.8 apg.) has shown little drop off at the point behind Gaines, registering at least five assists in a game twice this year, and carding a season-high 11 points (3-of-4 3FG) at Penn State.

Potent Notables About The Irish

• Notre Dame is among the nation’s winningest programs during the past 11 seasons (1996-97 to present), ranking seventh with 256 victories in that span.
• Notre Dame’s incoming class of 2007 (announced Nov. 8) has been ranked 11th in the nation by Blue Star Basketball, marking the 11th consecutive season that the Irish have had a top-25 recruiting class. Notre Dame is one of only three schools (along with Connecticut and Tennessee) to have an active streak of that length. A thumbnail sketch of the newest Irish signees can be found on page 8 of these notes.
• Notre Dame currently is ranked ninth nationally in attendance (6,495 fans per game). Last season marked the sixth consecutive campaign the Irish were among the national top 20 in attendance (No. 11 ranking). Notre Dame also has attracted 5,000-or-more fans to 86 of its last 88 home games, including three Joyce Center sellouts of 11,418 (most recently on Dec. 31, 2005 vs. Tennessee).
• For the sixth time in school history, Notre Dame has been selected to host NCAA Tournament action, as the Joyce Center will be the site of NCAA Tournament first- and second-round games in 2010. In four of the five previous instances, Notre Dame was involved in NCAA Tournament play, going 6-1 all-time and advancing to the NCAA Sweet 16 three times (2000, 2001, 2004), with only a first-round loss to Minnesota in 1994 blotting the resume. Notre Dame also hosted the 1983 NCAA Mideast Regional at the Joyce Center, with Georgia defeating Tennessee, 67-63 in the regional final.
• The Irish have become a regular fixture in the WNBA Draft in recent years, as six Notre Dame players have been selected in the past six seasons. All-America guard Megan Duffy was the most recent Irish player to be chosen, going to the Minnesota Lynx in the third round (31st overall pick) of the 2006 WNBA Draft. Other active Notre Dame players in the WNBA during the 2006 season included Ruth Riley and Jacqueline Batteast (league champion Detroit Shock), while Niele Ivey sat out this year as a free agent, rehabilitating an injury after previously playing with Indiana, Detroit and Phoenix. Riley’s WNBA title with Detroit was her second (she was the 2003 WNBA Finals MVP), while Batteast earned her first pro crown this year.
• Notre Dame has been an elite program in the classroom as well. The Irish posted a perfect 100-percent Graduation Success Rate (GSR), according to figures released by the NCAA in October 2006. Notre Dame was one of 16 Division I-A programs to achieve this distinction, and one of only two BIG EAST programs (Syracuse is the other). Furthermore, since Muffet McGraw became the Irish head coach in 1987, every Notre Dame women’s basketball player that has completed her athletic and academic eligibility at the University has graduated.

A Quick Look At Tennessee
The names and faces may change, but the quality of play remains the same for Tennessee, which is once again ranked in the top five nationally and poised to challenge for the national title when March Madness rolls around.

The No. 4 Lady Vols are off to an 11-1 start this season and have won five in a row since suffering their only loss of the year to date (7-57 at second-ranked North Carolina on Dec. 3). Most recently, UT went into the Christmas break with a 75-59 victory at Old Dominion on Dec. 22. Redshirt sophomore forward Candace Parker tallied a game-high 32 points and 10 rebounds and Tennessee shot 50.9 percent from the floor in the win.

Parker is the Lady Vols’ leader in most statistical categories this season, logging 19.9 points, 8.9 rebounds and 2.3 blocks per contestwith a .562 field goal percentage (second on the squad). Senior forward Sidney Spencer follows behind Parker with 11.9 ppg., while also ranking among the national leaders in three-point percentage (.578). Junior point guard Alexis Hornbuckle is the third Lady Vol scoring in double figures this year (10.1 ppg.), while also contributing 3.5 assists and 3.4 steals a night.

Head coach Pat Summitt is the winningest coach in NCAA history, sporting a 924-178 (.838) record in her 33rd season at Tennessee. She is 17-0 all-time against Notre Dame.

The Notre Dame-Tennessee Series
Historically, Notre Dame has struggled against Tennessee, going 0-17 against the Lady Vols (0-7 in Knoxville) since the series began back in 1983.

The Irish began playing Tennessee on an annual basis early in the 1983-84 season and continued facing one another at alternating home sites for the next 10 years. Following a one-year break, the teams met twice in 1996-97, with the Lady Vols handing Notre Dame its first and last losses of the season — 72-59 in the semifinals of the preseason WNIT at Ruston, La., and 80-66 at the NCAA Final Four in Cincinnati.

The Irish and Lady Vols would not play again until the second round of the 2002 NCAA Tournament in Knoxville, when UT roughed up Notre Dame, 89-50. The two sides then opened a five-year contract the following December at Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis (home of the WNBA’s Indiana Fever) with Tennessee emerging with a 77-61 victory. The Lady Vols won 83-59 in Knoxville in 2003-04, and after a year hiatus, UT held on for a 62-51 victory at the Joyce Center last season.

Other Notre Dame-Tennessee Series Tidbits

• Tennessee has won all 17 games in the series by an average margin of more than 21 points, topping the 70-point mark in all but two contests. Meanwhile, Notre Dame has cracked the 70-point barrier four times against the Lady Vols, and has come within 10 points of UT three times. The closest margin in the series came on Jan. 12, 1992 at the Joyce Center, when the Lady Vols edged the Irish, 85-82.
• Tennessee remains the only opponent the Irish have never defeated with a minimum of five games played. The Lady Vols also are one of only five teams to have earned at least 10 victories over Notre Dame (the others are Connecticut – 19, DePaul – 15, Purdue – 14 and Rutgers – 13).
• Notre Dame sophomore guard Lindsay Schrader (Bartlett, Ill./Bartlett) and Tennessee redshirt sophomore forward Candace Parker (Naperville, Ill./Naperville Central) have been friends for several years, dating back to their grade-school days, when the pair were teammates on an AAU team coached by Parker’s father, Larry. The two young stars still chat regularly via e-mail and text messaging.
• Notre Dame freshman guard Melissa Lechlitner is a 2006 graduate of South Bend St. Joseph’s High School and spent three seasons (2004-06) in the Indians’ backcourt with recent Tennessee signee Sydney Smallbone. Lechlitner and Smallbone led SBSJ to the 2005 Indiana Class 3A title, and state semifinal berths in ’04 and ’06.
• Tennessee head strength and conditioning coach Heather Mason spent five years on the staff at Notre Dame from 1998-2003. In addition, two of Mason’s graduate assistants on the UT strength and conditioning staff are twins Jessica and Kristen Kinder, who were standout volleyball players for the Irish from 2000-03.
• The state of Tennessee has been home to just one Notre Dame women’s basketball player in the 29-year history of the program. Oak Ridge native Tricia McManus earned three monograms with the Irish from 1979-81, averaging 7.6 points and 6.0 rebounds in 80 career games (41 starts), and helping Notre Dame reach the round of 16 in the 1980 AIAW Small College National Tournament.
• Notre Dame is 4-18 (.182) all-time against other schools from the state of Tennessee, with a 2-11 (.154) record away from home. UT has accounted for the vast majority of those games, with the Irish going 4-1 against teams other than the Lady Vols.

The Last Time Notre Dame and Tennessee Met The only thing normal about Tennessee’s victory over Notre Dame was the fact that the Lady Vols won. Top-ranked Tennessee shot 33 percent from the field and was outscored in the second half, but beat No. 12 Notre Dame 62-51 on Dec. 31, 2005 at the Joyce Center.

Tennessee (12-0), which entered the game averaging 83 points, won by outrebounding the Irish 50-35 and holding Notre Dame to 31 percent shooting.

Alexis Hornbuckle had 15 points and eight rebounds, Nicky Anosike added nine points and Candace Parker had eight points and 11 rebounds for the Lady Vols.

Megan Duffy led Notre Dame (9-2) with 19 points, including eight points in the last four minutes.

Tennessee led 47-25 with 13:09 left, but Notre Dame went on a 16-4 run to cut the lead to 51-41 with 6:16 remaining. Duffy’s jumper trimmed the deficit to 57-51 with 2 minutes left, but Tennessee went 5-of-8 from the free-throw line to end the game.

Tennessee’s Shanna Zolman, the Lady Vols’ top scorer with 17 points per game, was held to five on 1-of-7 shooting.

Duffy struggled until late in the game. She shot 5-for-18 from the field and 3-for-10 from 3-point range, but scored 14 points in the second half.

The Lady Vols forced 15 first-half turnovers to take a 29-14 lead. The Irish (9-2) barely avoided their lowest-scoring half of the season, thanks to a three-pointer by Courtney LaVere with 1:09 left before the break. LaVere had 10 points before fouling out.

The Last Time Notre Dame and Tennessee Met In Knoxville Shyra Ely scored 20 points and Ashley Robinson added 14 in third-ranked Tennessee’s 83-59 win over No. 17 Notre Dame on Nov. 30, 2003 in Knoxville.

The Lady Vols (2-0) led from the beginning while the Irish (2-3) struggled with shooting and defense. Tennessee was ahead 20-7 with 11:35 left in the first half. Notre Dame cut the lead to 10, but the Lady Vols had a 13-2 run to push the lead to 21.

Ely had two easy baskets during the spurt, which was capped by Loree Moore’s layup off a clever play by LaToya Davis. Davis went for a steal off Irish guard Le’Tania Severe, and came up with the ball as they raced to the basket. Davis had to stop to get control of the ball and swiftly passed it to Moore, who was running toward the basket.

Severe scored three straight baskets, but they didn’t help the Irish much because Ely blew by defenders for two more layups.

The Lady Vols went up 56-30 with 14:58 left after Tennessee’s Shanna Zolman hit two free throws. Zolman scored 13 points and Tasha Butts added 10 for the Lady Vols.

Notre Dame forward Jacqueline Batteast finished had 16 points to lead the Irish, while Megan Duffy had two late 3-pointers to finish with 14 points and Severe added 13. Batteast fouled out after scoring just two points in the teams’ prior meeting, a 77-61 victory for Tennessee on December 28, 2002 in Indianapolis.

Notre Dame vs. The Southeastern Conference The Irish are 6-27 (.182) all-time against the Southeastern Conference, although they are 3-4 in their last seven meetings with SEC schools. Last year’s 62-51 Tennessee victory at the Joyce Center was the last time Notre Dame faced an SEC team. The most recent Irish win over an SEC opponent was Nov. 14, 2003 at the WBCA Classic in Boulder, Colo., when Notre Dame defeated No. 22/25 Auburn, 77-64.

The Irish have never defeated an SEC squad in its home floor, going 0-13 all-time in such contests. However, Notre Dame has previously won four times in SEC arenas, with all four coming in NCAA Tournament play — vs. Alabama and George Washington in 1997 (East Regional at South Carolina’s Frank McGuire Center), Saint Mary’s (Calif.) in 1999 (West Region first round at LSU’s Pete Maravich Assembly Center) and New Mexico in 2002 (Midwest Region first round at Tennessee’s Thompson-Boling Arena).

Poise Under Pressure
The Irish are 4-1 this season in games decided by 10 points or less, including a 3-1 record when the margin is five points or fewer. Going back the previous two seasons (2004-05 to present), Notre Dame is 11-5 in five-point games and 24-8 in 10-point contests — with three of those eight losses coming in overtime.

Four times this season, the Irish have sent a player to the free throw line with less than four seconds remaining in regulation or overtime and the game hanging in the balance. In those clutch situations, Notre Dame is 7-for-8 at the charity stripe, with the only miss being a semi-intentional one by senior guard Breona Gray on the second of two tries with 1.2 seconds to go in a 60-59 win at Valparaiso on Dec. 19.

Clutch When It Counts
Notre Dame is shooting 74.2 percent from the foul line (46-of-62) this season inside the final five minutes of regulation and overtime.

Upon closer inspection, the Irish have gotten some of their most critical free throw production from their freshmen — guards Ashley Barlow and Melissa Lechlitner are a combined 17-of-18 (.944) at the charity stripe down the stretch.

Junior Achievement
The common basketball adage holds that college players make their biggest improvement between their freshman and sophomore seasons. However, for Notre Dame, it’s been the time between the sophomore and junior years that has been conducive to the most development.

Three of the top four Irish scorers this season are juniors and all three are posting the best scoring averages of their careers — guard Charel Allen (14.1 ppg.), center Melissa D’Amico (11.2 ppg.) and guard Tulyah Gaines (10.7 ppg.). Allen came into the year with an 8.1 ppg. career average, while D’Amico had a two-year ratio of 4.0 ppg., and Gaines was averaging 3.7 ppg. Between them, the junior trio had a combined 37 double-figure scoring games in two seasons entering the 2006-07 campaign — so far through this year, they have 23 double-digit efforts.

Spread The Wealth
The Irish have fielded at least three double-figure scorers in nine of 12 games this season, going 8-1 in those contests (only loss was at Penn State). Thursday’s Prairie View A&M game marked the third time this year Notre Dame has had five players crack double digits in the same contest.

Keeping The Home Fires Burning
Notre Dame has been largely solid at home this season, going 7-1 due in part to an explosive offense that has averaged 79.3 points per game on the Joyce Center hardwood. Led by junior guard Charel Allen (13.9 ppg.), the Irish also have four players scoring in double figures through their eight home games and are shooting .471 from the floor in front of the Notre Dame faithful.

Riding The Long Island Express
Junior center (and Long Island native) Melissa D’Amico is showing signs of continuing the superb progress she made last season. After nearly tripling her scoring and rebounding outputs from her rookie season (up to 5.9 ppg., 3.7 rpg.), D’Amico is at it again, ranking third on the Irish roster in scoring (11.2 ppg.) and rebounding (5.2 rpg.), while leading the team in field goal percentage (.571) and placing second in blocked shots (1.2 bpg.).

D’Amico has been particularly sharp of late, averaging 14.4 points and 6.8 rebounds per game with a .615 field goal percentage (32-of-52) in Notre Dame’s last five outings. She also has scored in double digits four times in that span (including a career-high-tying 20-point effort vs. IUPUI) and logged her first double-double of the year with 15 points and 10 rebounds against Indiana.

Contribute Early, Contribute Often
Notre Dame’s freshman class has wasted little time in making its presence felt this season. Three of the Irish rookies — guards Ashley Barlow and Melissa Lechlitner, and center Erica Williamson — make up the team’s primary bench rotation, with all three averaging at least 14 minutes per game, all three having scored in double figures at least twice, and Barlow has posted a double-double already this season (19 points, 10 rebounds vs. Bowling Green).

Barlow also is second on the team in scoring (11.3 ppg.) and ranks among the BIG EAST Conference leaders in both free throw percentage (first at .944, also 11th in NCAA) and steals (fifth at 2.4 spg.). Williamson is carding 6.5 points, 5.2 rebounds and 1.5 blocks per game. And, Lechlitner is logging 4.5 points and 2.8 assists per night with six three-pointers (tied for third on the squad).

The Five-Finger Discount
Notre Dame’s aggressive defense has forced 22.5 turnovers per game this season, logging 20-or-more takeaways in 10 of 12 games — the lone exceptions were by Bowling Green (19) and Valparaiso (15). In addition, the Irish caused an opponent season-high 30 turnovers at Michigan on Dec. 1, the first 30-turnover outing by the Notre Dame defense since Feb. 25, 2004 (37 turnovers by Miami at the Joyce Center).

The Irish also lead the BIG EAST Conference (and rank 20th in the nation) with 12.6 steals per night. In fact, Notre Dame has posted double-digit steal totals in nine of 12 games this season (and never fewer than seven in one game), with junior guard Charel Allen and freshman guard Ashley Barlow committing the most larcenies to date (29 each, 2.4 per game, fifth in BIG EAST) and leading five Irish players with at least 20 steals this season.

Barlow recorded a combined 11 steals vs. Western Michigan (six) and at USC (five). That made her the first Notre Dame player with back-to-back five-steal games since March 30-April 1, 2001, when Niele Ivey did so against Connecticut (five) and Purdue (six) at the NCAA Women’s Final Four in St. Louis.

Defense Wins Championships
Notre Dame has stepped up its defensive intensity in the past six games, holding its opponents to an average of 58.2 ppg. while forcing 22.7 turnovers per night.

The Irish also hold a special distinction, as they held the nation’s leading scorer (Western Michigan’s Carrie Moore) to her second-lowest output of the season, limiting her to 18 points in an 87-67 Notre Dame win on Nov. 19. In fact, it is one of only three times all season Moore has been held below 20 points — the others were vs. Marquette (19) and Temple (2). Moore currently is averaging 27.9 ppg. this season.

Game #12 Recap: Prairie View A&M
Freshman guard Ashley Barlow came off the bench to score a career-high 21 points and grab a game-best nine rebounds as Notre Dame stormed from the gate and rolled to a 94-55 win over Prairie View A&M on Thursday afternoon at the Joyce Center. Barlow also went a perfect 13-for-13 at the free throw line, tying a school and arena record for foul shooting in a game, as the Irish led from the opening tip to the final horn on the way to their sixth win in the past seven games.

Junior center Melissa D’Amico turned in an efficient performance with 17 points in 18 minutes, while freshman center Erica Williamson collected a career-high 15 points, eight rebounds and four blocks in a reserve role. Junior guard Tulyah Gaines charted 13 points and junior guard Charel Allen symbolized Notre Dame’s balanced performance with 11 points, eight rebounds, a career-high-tying five steals and four assists.

Having played only twice in the past three weeks, but coming off a slim one-point victory at Valparaiso in its last outing, Notre Dame left little to chance with Thursday’s game. After a brief 3-3 tie in the game’s first two minutes, the Irish surged out to a double-digit lead when D’Amico converted a layup for a 13-3 edge at the 14:41 mark. That was just part of a massive 26-5 run that boosted the Notre Dame edge past 20 points before the game was even 10 minutes old. An 11-3 run to close out the first half gave the hosts their largest lead to that point at 48-19 going to the locker room.

Prairie View A&M regrouped during halftime and made a brief charge during the first four minutes of the second half, outscoring the Irish, 14-7 to get within 22 points (55-33). However, Notre Dame’s freshman second unit of Barlow, Williamson and guard Melissa Lechlitner came on to calm the waters, sparking the Irish on a 14-5 run that pushed their lead over 30 points for the first time. The Lady Panthers never got closer than 28 points the rest of the way, with Notre Dame hiking its advantage to a game-high 41 points on two occasions down the stretch.

Noting The Prairie View A&M Win

• Notre Dame’s 94 points were the most scored by the Irish since Nov. 26, 2002, when they downed Cleveland State, 107-65 at the Joyce Center; that game also marked the last time Notre Dame had a larger margin of victory than they did vs. Prairie View A&M.
• Ashley Barlow’s 13-for-13 free throw performance tied Ruth Riley’s school and arena records, set on Jan. 15, 2001 in a 92-76 victory over top-ranked Connecticut; ironically, Riley was in attendance, working as a color commentator on the Notre Dame radio broadcast.
• The Irish held the Lady Panthers to 55 points, their second-best defensive effort of the year (54 by Indiana on Dec. 3).
• PVAMU’s .368 field goal percentage tied a Notre Dame opponent season-low, previously set in the Dec. 19 game by Valparaiso.
• The Irish recorded a season-high 18 steals, their highest theft total since Nov. 22, 2004 (20 steals vs. Colorado State).
• Notre Dame’s defense caused 28 turnovers, the 10th time in 12 games they have come up with 20-or-more takeaways.
• The Irish logged season bests of 28 free throws made and 34 attempts.
• Notre Dame did not make a three-pointer for the first time since Jan. 31, 2006 (0-of-4 at Syracuse).
• Notre Dame held PVAMU to 19 first-half points, the fewest by an Irish opponent in one half since Jan. 21, 2006, when Georgetown scored 18 points in the opening 20 minutes of a 54-52 Notre Dame win.
• Melissa Lechlitner’s six assists and four steals were personal highs.
• The Irish improve to 33-5 (.868) vs. first-time opponents in the past 12 seasons, including a 13-1 (.929) record since 2000-01.

Injury Bug Bites Irish Early
Sophomore guard Lindsay Schrader will miss the 2006-07 season after suffering a torn ACL in her right knee during practice on Oct. 15. Schrader underwent corrective surgery on Oct. 27, with the normal rehabilitation timeline extending 6-9 months.

Schrader was to be Notre Dame’s top returning scorer and rebounder this season, after averaging 10.5 points and 5.4 rebounds per game during her rookie campaign in 2005-06.

2006-07: The Anniversary Season

• 2006-07 marks the 30th season of Notre Dame women’s basketball, with the Irish having compiled an all-time record of 602-269 (.691) since making their varsity debut in 1977-78. Actually, Notre Dame spent its first three seasons at the Division III level, playing under the banner of the Association of Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW) before making the move to Division I status in 1980-81 (the NCAA began sponsoring a women’s basketball championship the following season). The Irish have an overall Division I record of 553-249 (.690).
• This year also represents Muffet McGraw’s 20th season as the head women’s basketball coach at Notre Dame and her 25th campaign overall, including her five-year run at Lehigh (1982-87). McGraw’s record is a stellar one — she is 438-170 (.720) at the helm of the Irish and has a career record of 526-211 (.714) in her silver anniversary season on the sidelines.
• In addition, Notre Dame is celebrating the 35th anniversary of women’s athletics at the University during the 2006-07 season. All Irish women’s sports teams will hold events to commemorate this milestone during their respective seasons. What’s more, all Notre Dame women’s teams are sporting 35th anniversary logo patches on their uniforms for the ’06-07 campaign.

Notre Dame Ranked 11th In Preseason BIG EAST Coaches’ Poll
According to a preseason poll of the BIG EAST Conference coaches, Notre Dame will finish 11th in the conference this season. Those were the results released at the league’s annual Media Day Oct. 26 at the ESPN Zone in New York’s Times Square. The Irish earned 108 points, while reigning BIG EAST Championship victor, Connecticut (221 points, 11 first-place votes) was tabbed first, ahead of regular-season champion Rutgers (215 points, five first-place votes). The BIG EAST sent 11 teams to the postseason last year, including seven NCAA Tournament qualifiers (Notre Dame was one).

The Irish are beginning their 12th season as a member of the BIG EAST Conference in 2006-07. The Irish have gone 145-39 (.788) all-time in regular-season conference games, posting the best winning percentage in league history. Connecticut is second with a .783 success rate. Notre Dame also has finished among the top three in the final BIG EAST regular-season standings nine times in its first 11 seasons in the conference, including a share of the BIG EAST title in 2000-01.

Half And Half
During the past seven seasons, Notre Dame has been nearly unbeatable when it has the lead at halftime. The Irish are 115-10 (.920) since the start of the 2000-01 campaign when they go into the dressing room with the lead, including wins in 43 of their last 47 such contests. Six times this year, Notre Dame has led at the break, going on to win each time (Central Michigan, Western Michigan, Richmond, IUPUI, Valparaiso and Prairie View A&M).

The Best Offense Is A Good Defense…
During the past 12 seasons, Notre Dame has discovered that a solid defensive effort can almost certainly guarantee a victory. In fact, since the beginning of the 1995-96 season (Notre Dame’s first in the BIG EAST Conference), the Irish have an amazing 163-10 (.942) record when they hold their opponents below 60 points in a game. Notre Dame has held five of its last six foes to less than 60 points, and is 4-1 in those games (wins over Michigan, Purdue, Valparaiso and Prairie View A&M; loss to Indiana).

…But Sometimes You Have To Score If You Want To Win Not resting solely on its defensive laurels, Notre Dame also seemingly has found the magic mark when it comes to outscoring its opponents. During the past 12 seasons (1995-96 to present), the Irish are 96-3 (.970) when they score at least 80 points in a game. The only blemishes on that record are a pair of overtime losses to Texas A&M (88-84) and Michigan State (87-83) in 1995 and a 106-81 loss to Connecticut in 1998. Notre Dame has topped the 80-point mark five times this season, winning on each occasion (Central Michigan, Bowling Green, Western Michigan, Richmond and Prairie View A&M). The five 80-point games are the most for the Irish in a single season since 2000-01, when Notre Dame reached that level 15 times during its run to the national championship.

Now That’s A Home Court Advantage
One of the hallmarks of Notre Dame’s success has been its stellar play at home. In fact, the Irish have been virtually untouchable at home in recent years, winning 142 of their last 159 games (.893) at the 11,418-seat Joyce Center, including winning streaks of 51 and 25 games in that span. Notre Dame also has a 80-12 (.870) record in BIG EAST Conference play at the Joyce Center, sporting a 31-game league winning streak at home before it ended with a 48-45 loss to Villanova in the ’02 home finale.

The Irish have been particularly strong when it comes to non-conference games at home, winning 64 of their last 69 non-BIG EAST contests (.928) at the Joyce Center, dating back to the 1994-95 season. Four of the losses in that span came at the hands of Big Ten Conference opponents — Wisconsin in 1996 (81-69), Purdue in 2003 (71-54), Michigan State in 2004 (82-73 OT) and Indiana this year (54-51), with the fifth defeat coming to Tennessee last year (62-51). The Purdue loss also snapped a 33-game non-conference home winning streak which began after the UW setback.

Since its inaugural season in 1977-78, Notre Dame has played all of its games at the Joyce Center, posting a 292-78 (.789) record at the venerable facility. Three times (1999-2000, 2000-01 and 2003-04), the Irish went a perfect 15-0 at home, setting a school record for home wins in a season. The 2006-07 campaign will tie for the most regular-season home games (16) in school history, although in 2004-05, the Irish played host to all four rounds of the Preseason WNIT before its regular 12-game home slate began.

Jammin’ The Joyce
Beginning with its national championship season of 2000-01, Notre Dame has ranked among the top 20 in the nation in attendance each of the past six years. This season looks to be no exception, as the Irish currently are ninth in the nation in average attendance (6,495 fans per game), according to the latest unofficial weekly rankings compiled by the University of Wisconsin Sports Information Office.

What’s more, each of the top 20 women’s basketball crowds in Joyce Center history have occurred during the 20-year tenure of head coach Muffet McGraw (1987-present), with 19 of those 20 occurring in the past seven seasons (2000-01 to present). Lastly, the Irish have attracted at least 5,000 fans to 86 of their last 88 home games, including 15 contests with at least 8,000 fans and the first three sellouts in the program’s history (two in 2000-01, one in 2005-06).

Oh Captain, My Captain
Senior guard Breona Gray and junior guard Tulyah Gaines will serve as team captains for the 2006-07 season. Both players are serving as captains for the first time in their respective careers, and each received the captain’s honor following a vote of their teammates prior to the season.

States of Grace
Notre Dame is one of 12 schools in the country to have more than one player on its roster who was named a high school Player of the Year in their home state. Irish junior guard Tulyah Gaines was tapped as the 2004 Gatorade Nevada Player of the Year, while sophomore guard Lindsay Schrader was chosen as the 2005 Illinois Miss Basketball and Illinois Gatorade Player of the Year.

Notre Dame On The Small Screen
Notre Dame will have 11 of its regular-season games televised during the 2006-07 season. Highlighting this year’s television docket are five nationally-televised Irish women’s basketball contests, including a pair of games on the ESPN family of networks a week apart in early February.

This year’s TV slate continues a recent trend that has seen the Irish become a regular fixture on television. Beginning with the NCAA championship season of 2000-01 and continuing through this year, Notre Dame has played in 74 televised games, including 46 that were broadcast nationally.

Notre Dame made its 2006-07 television debut Nov. 16 when its road opener at Penn State aired live on College Sports Television (CSTV). That was the first of three Irish women’s basketball broadcasts for the national cable network, with the second coming Jan. 23 at Marquette (8 p.m. CT tip) and the third coming in the regular-season finale on Feb. 26 at DePaul (8 p.m. CT). The latter two contests are part of the BIG EAST-CSTV Game of the Week package, now in its second season. Counting the Penn State contest, CSTV now has aired 12 Notre Dame women’s basketball games during the past five seasons, with the first being that network’s inaugural broadcast of any sport (a Feb. 2003 game at Connecticut).

The Irish also are scheduled to make two appearances on the ESPN family of networks, beginning with a Feb. 4 home game against West Virginia that will be broadcast live on ESPNU and will start at 5:30 p.m. (ET). The following Sunday (Feb. 11), Notre Dame will play host to DePaul for a 5:30 p.m. (ET) game that will air on ESPN2 as part of that network’s “February Frenzy” split-national coverage designed to preview a similar coverage pattern for the NCAA Tournament. During the past six seasons, Notre Dame has appeared on the ESPN family of networks 28 times, averaging nearly five telecasts per year on “The Worldwide Leader in Sports”.

In addition, Notre Dame will play in five regionally-televised games this season. The first of those took place Dec. 6, when the Irish defeated No. 10/9 Purdue at the Joyce Center in a game seen live on Comcast Local (based in Detroit). On Saturday, Notre Dame will visit fourth-ranked Tennessee for a 2 p.m. (ET) contest at Thompson-Boling Arena that can be seen live on Comcast/Charter Sports Southeast. And, on Jan. 27, the Irish will visit Connecticut for a 7 p.m. (ET) matchup that will be carried live on Connecticut Public Television (CPTV).

Notre Dame will appear twice on the BIG EAST-Regional Sports Network (RSN) package this season with contests at South Florida (Jan. 13, noon ET) and home against Rutgers (Feb. 24, noon ET). SportsNet New York will serve as the flagship for the BIG EAST package, with additional clearances to be announced at a later date.

The other televised game for the Irish was a local broadcast (WHME-TV in South Bend/Lakeshore Public Television in Chicagoland) of the Dec. 19 contest at Valparaiso.

Notre Dame On The Airwaves
For the 11th consecutive season, every Irish women’s basketball game (home and away) will air on commercial radio in South Bend, and for the seventh year in a row, Notre Dame can be heard on the flagship station of the Artistic Media Partners (AMP) Network — WDND-AM (ESPN Radio 1490) in South Bend. Veteran broadcaster and AMP sports director Sean Stires is now in his seventh season handling the play-by-play for Notre Dame. The Irish also can be heard free of charge on the Internet at Notre Dame’s official athletics web site (www.und.com).

Irish Debut Free Video Coverage
In the latest instance of the wide-ranging media avenues afforded the Notre Dame women’s basketball program, the Irish will have several of their 2006-07 home games televised free of charge through the official Notre Dame athletics web site (www.und.com). Thanks to the considerable efforts of CSTV Online (based in Carlsbad, Calif.) and its new Fighting Irish All-Access package, fans of Notre Dame women’s basketball can watch every minute of exciting action at the Joyce Center live from the comfort of their own homes. The video will be supplemented by an audio simulcast of the Notre Dame radio broadcast, led by veteran sportscaster Sean Stires.

This free service is limited to those home games that have not been selected for broadcast by other TV outlets. The Irish have been televised on und.com twice this season (Indiana and IUPUI), with the remainder of this year’s Internet video broadcast schedule to be announced at a later date.

Joyce Center Arena Renovation On Tap
On Oct. 5, Notre Dame announced plans for a nearly $25 million renovation of the Joyce Center arena, including new chairback seating, a four-sided digital video scoreboard, and a club/hospitality area (as part of a new two-story addition to be built on the south side of the facility).

The $24.7 million renovation project has been underwritten with a $12.5 million leadership gift from Philip J. Purcell III, a Notre Dame alumnus and Trustee, and the retired chairman and CEO of Morgan Stanley. Upon completion, the arena will be known as Purcell Pavilion at the Joyce Center. The Purcell gift, combined with other benefactions, including a $5 million gift from 1959 Notre Dame graduate and Tampa Bay Devil Rays owner Vince Naimoli, brings the total contributions to the project to $22 million.

In accordance with University policies for new construction, work on the renovation will begin after the project is fully funded and designed. The University is actively seeking additional contributions.

Promotional Corner
Here’s a rundown of some upcoming promotions and giveaways at future Notre Dame women’s basketball games this season. Tickets may be purchased in advance at the Irish athletics ticket office (second floor of the Joyce Center through Gate 1; 574-631-7356), on game day at the Gate 10 ticket windows of the Joyce Center, or via the Internet at Notre Dame’s official athletics web site (www.und.com/tickets). Please note — additional promotions and giveaways may be added at a later date, so consult the Notre Dame promotions web site (www.notredamepromotions.com) for the latest information:

• Jan. 10 vs. Cincinnati — Giveaway Mania (including round-trip airline tickets to Orlando, Tampa or Las Vegas on Allegiant Air) … Wacky Wednesday (buy one full-priced ticket, get one free) … Notre Dame women’s basketball scarves to first 1,000 fans, courtesy of Allegiant Air … post-game autograph session on upper arena concourse with selected Irish players.

Next Game: Seton Hall
The Irish will tip off their 2006-07 BIG EAST Conference schedule Tuesday at 7 p.m. (ET) when they visit Seton Hall. Notre Dame will be seeking a measure of redemption against the Pirates, who upset the 12th-ranked Irish, 74-61 last season at the Joyce Center.

Like Notre Dame, Seton Hall (7-3, 1-0) has won five of its last six games, including its conference opener at Providence (66-52) on Dec. 5. The Pirates are playing in Lehigh’s Christmas City Classic this weekend (vs. Central Michigan and Lehigh/Gardner-Webb) before returning home to await the Irish.